McNamara's Blog
Saint Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie, is the fifth in a series of educational institutions established for the formation clergy for the Archdiocese of New York. It traces its ancestry to parent seminaries in Nyack (1833-34), Lafargeville (1838-40), and Fordham (1840-61), all in the State of New York, and immediately to Saint Joseph’s Provincial Seminary at Troy, New York (1864-96). On May 17, 1891, Archbishop Michael J. Corrigan, desiring to relocate the seminary closer to his episcopal city, laid the cornerstone of the present Saint Joseph’s in the Dunwoodie section of Yonkers, just a few miles north of New York City. The first scholastic year began September 21, 1896, with ninety-eight students. Bishop Bernard McQuaid of Rochester described the newly-completed Dunwoodie as “the grandest seminary building in Christendom.” For the first ten years the seminary was under the direction of priests of the Society of Saint Sulpice, who composed the majority of the faculty. The eminent historian Fr. John Tracy Ellis has asserted that Dunwoodie, for the first twelve years of its existence, ranked second only to the Catholic University of America in its contribution to American Catholic intellectual life. In 1906, St. Joseph’s reverted to the control of archdiocesan authorities and has since remained under an administrative and academic staff composed largely of diocesan priests. Successive Archbishops of New York, Cardinals Farley, Hayes, Spellman, and Cooke have enlarged the institution, notably by the addition of a residence wing in 1907, so that it presently provides accommodations for approximately 160 students in single rooms. A new library was constructed in 1953. In 1967 Cardinal Spellman dedicated the recreation center. In 1983 Cardinal Cooke restored the main chapel of the Seminary. In 1995 Cardinal O’Connor completed the restoration of the Chapel in preparation for the historic visit of Pope John Paul II on October 5, 1995.
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